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Dark Vines - Nigrum Vites
Brief Nigrum Vites, "Dark Vines" in Latin. Also known as Black Vines, or the Black Death, is the only known flora that can survive anything; With certain exceptions to quickly shifting weather and climate that humans have made permanent settlements in. This plant is considered a predator by most that have seen it function on a large scale without intervention, due to its notable ability to survive and take over nearly any environment. Discovery The first sighting was made by expedition craft into the now famous outskirt system of Prison. The single planet in this system was covered with this one apex species of flora with no competition on the rest of the planet. Due to lack of initial research by the scouting drones (to no fault of the drones, they simply did not carry the equipment to properly research flora and fauna), it is unknown whether this is the home planet of Nigrum Vites or if they were transmitted to the planet. Due to the landmass being split into separate continents the former is more probable. Growth States Stage 0 - Ignorance This and all other subsequent stages depend on a minimum of a few ounces of the plant's biomass touching the ground and going unnoticed for significant periods of time. Heavily controlled field studies have shown the plant has the ability to burrow into nearly every natural material, short of hard stone, given sufficient time. Once it begins to root there is little that can be done to stop its progression besides glassing the immediate and surrounding areas. Stage 1 - Rooting Once rooted, the vine will expand a very stable and strong system of roots (Visibly identical to the above ground vines). This system will grow wildly in all direction until something impedes progress. For example, if the root system comes across a bluff, it will follow the "wall" vertically downwards until it finds more level ground to keep expanding. Stage 2 - Ground Cover The first stage of above ground growth consists of an extremely dense ground cover, similar in form to moss. However, unlike mosses, it is far denser and prevents any new growth in the area the plant covers the ground. This is the first stage that is noticed on any meaningful scale. There is no known reason that the roots trigger this event to simultaneously emerge all at once. Stage 3 - Dominance The next stage, after covering all grasses and weeds, is to kill off all other small competition. "Small" in this case is entirely dependent on the surrounding vegetation, as there are documented cases of "small" being 10-meter tall trees. How the vines know what size things are in reference to each other is unknown, but seems to follow a ratio of 1/10 per event of this stage. The ground cover climbs up and roots into and other fauna in the area, their relatively heavy weight sometimes breaking saplings at their base. This clears out almost every other article of local flora, leaving only strongly rooted trees left. This is also when it becomes dangerous for any fauna to stay still while surrounded by the vines. Stage 4 - "Blackout" The last stage is the considered the last needed classification of the process. Anything after this is too specific to matter with all other flora and fauna dead. The now Safely rooted and uncontested vines will begin to crawl up all trunks (or equivalent) of the remaining fauna. The vines do not seem to cover any leaves (or equivalent) until all other surface area is covered. The vines then grow outwards horizontal, over the open area, until the victim fauna is covered in an "umbrella" of the vines. This starves the victim, which is then used as a scaffold for additional growth. Notable Behaviors The following is all observed, replicated, behaviors of Nigrum Vites * Roots and vines seem to be identical, with vines covered by root-able material simply growing upwards, acting as roots. * Any unmoving object during Stage 3 of the growth states, will be covered. This includes Fauna. According to witnesses individuals executed in this way (One documented case, in the Prison system), the vines root into the soft tissue of the victim. This is understandably extremely painful and takes several days. * The vines are matte black, with a similar matte texture, this gives it enough grip to grow up rough enough texture in up to 5g. * The longer vines are rooted and growing, the stronger they get. Dried, harvested, and sterilized, vines have been used as a weight-bearing wood-like substitute in locations that have been blacked out * All behavioral aspects of the vines seem to be purely mechanical, at the cellular level.